Morgan & Morgan to expand commercial litigation group

Paul Brinkmann

John Morgan, founder of Morgan & Morgan, is expanding the firm’s focus on commercial contingency litigation -- taking a case where a business is suing another business but only getting paid if the client wins.

Morgan said he’s planning to add 50 lawyers in the commercial trial area over the next five to six years.

“People will always find new ways to kill each other for money, but personal injury cases tend to dry up eventually with new regulation and legislation,” Morgan said in an interview. “A few years ago, nursing home cases were 20 percent of our business, but that’s down to 1 percent now.”

Auto accident cases are also dropping as technology makes cars safer, he said.

Being new to Central Florida, it was my first time meeting Morgan, who supports former Gov. Charlie Crist’s campaign to retake the governor’s mansion.

Morgan & Morgan is still heavy on the personal injury cases where it made its name, but Morgan said the size of his firm positions it to tackle commercial contingency cases. Morgan & Morgan is the largest personal injury firm in the U.S. with about 260 attorneys.

“Businesses will never limit their own right to sue another business, so there will always be plenty commercial litigation,” said Morgan, 58.

By the way, Morgan doesn’t think nursing homes have necessarily changed their ways but they’ve gained new shields from litigation. “There are worse conditions in some nursing homes now. We were exposing what they were doing wrong,” Morgan said.